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This Is Exile: Diaries of Child Refugees

Mani Yassir Benchelah

Lebanon, Switzerland, United Kingdom 2015, 56 min.

Documentary

Spoken language: Arabic

Subtitles: English

Festival year: 2016

Intimate, harrowing portrait of children who have fled the violence of
the civil war in Syria and now live in refugee camps in neighbouring Lebanon:
in the Bekav Valley, close to border town Arsal, and in Shatila, Beirut. Emmy
Award winner Mani Yassir Benchelah zoomed in on the children’s daily lives
during one year, giving them the opportunity to express, in their own words,
how they cope with loss, hardship and broken dreams.

Synopsis

While her little brother is fetching water, Aya confesses how she was
pressured by a soldier to give details about her father. Little, stuttering
Nouredine, who lived in Homs during the siege, is worried about Assad’s
soldiers chasing him everywhere. Thirteen-year-old Layim is vindictive yet
eager to help people, for example by handing out food supplies.

Whereas most children hope to one day return home, disabled Fatima seems
quite happy after being admitted into Switzerland, where she no longer feels
underestimated. Mustafa is keen to study at university, but has to take on a
job to feed his family. A microcosmic portrait showing the high toll that the
ongoing civil war takes on millions of Syrian refugees, half of whom are
children.

Official website: http://www.home.bouldercreekinternational.com/this-is-exile-diaries-of-child-refugees